


From the Sidelines

by Ixaliel



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blackwatch, First Fic Jitters, Friendship, Mission Linear Plot, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader-Insert, Romance, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 05:49:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15113099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ixaliel/pseuds/Ixaliel
Summary: As a mere grunt who provides cover fire and frequently poses as the distraction, you're at the bottom of the barrel in the Blackwatch ranking and so you have yet to encounter the organizations most well-known agents face-to-face. However a chance encounter with the more friendlier of the group leads you to the most secluded.Genji Shimada.





	From the Sidelines

With heavy steps you trudge towards the medbay, grumbling silently over the orders given to you by Reyes. Typically your superior wasn’t in touch with the grunts like you, at least not in touch enough to personally tell you  _‘Get your ass to the medbay! That’s an order!'_. However you had been brought back amidst his more…flashy...agents. During the mission you had the immense misfortune of standing next to a dead body packed with explosives and these explosives …well…exploded.

 

You were lucky enough to have been spotted by a nearby agent and rather assumed M.I.A you were helped back to the extraction point and hitched a ride with Blackwatch’s most notorious agents. Any grunt like you would have been reveling in such an encounter, however the ride back to base was a tense one.

 

The mission was a simple retrieval; important data regarding an arms dealer who had gotten their hands on tech they really shouldn’t have been able to get. This information stank of under-the-table deals and a political disaster for someone. The broken city you had been sent out to was quiet and had been abandon during the Omnic Crisis. A small cell of mercenaries were stashed there now, safe guarding whatever was waiting for transport and this time it was a second-in-command with close ties to the Dealer in question.

 

While a small squad would be dropped in the city’s exterior and provide a distraction Reyes and his selected team would infiltrate the main hub of merc activity. An easy mission compared to others, but no one on your team was prepared for the guns these run-of-the-mill baddies were toting. This Dealers fingers were fist deep in someone else’s honey and your temporary distraction was now a fight for your life against weapons that unleashed surprise after surprise.

 

All you knew was that your team was in trouble and large explosions could be heard from within the center of the city. Your squad leader was dead and Reyes wasn’t answering any of your hails.

 

As you fell back a dead body close to you caught your attention. Fires had sprung up around the area and the explosives strapped to the dead merc's body sent off alarms that had triggered your flight response. As your next thought was to get the hell out of there and find a new rooftop to provide cover the body exploded, possibly from a pesky sniper who saw an opportunity to take out a chunk of the opposing forces, and you vaulted over the building’s side, the explosion’s force sending you ass over head and awkwardly you fell onto a shorter rooftop next door. After a few seconds of relieved thoughts and pain-filled curses the rotten wood gave out beneath you and only then did your terrible misfortune seemed to have run its course.

 

You practically fell into Jesse McCree’s lap. After a cheerful _Howdy!_ he resumed his hail of fire at the mercenaries who had come closer once you became absent from your held position. Your gun was still remarkably in your grasp and with him you stuck until the orders came to clear out.

 

At the time you were absolutely ecstatic to be in the presence of such well known agents, but such lively emotions quickly diminished when the rest of the inner crowd boarded the waiting transport. Reyes had come empty handed and in a terribly foul stupor. After once glance at him and at Moria, who looked as pleased as a cat who just disemboweled a mouse, you wisely lowered your gaze to your dusty blood soaked boots and tried to hold a-fly-on-wall presence. It had worked until you touched down at Blackwatch’s main base. Once the bay doors opened the first to leave was Genji Shimada, the red glow of his cybernetics diminishing and second to follow was agent Kyla; an arms expert well-knowledged of the underground crime world. Handy to have when you were infiltrating a crime den.

 

Unsure of what do, as you could overhear any information your rank prohibited you from knowing, you decided the best course of action was to alert Reyes to your presence with a polite nod and salute and quick departure.

 

Then your arm fell off.

 

Unaware that the explosion on the rooftop had caused more damage than you previously thought, or perhaps it was the collision with the second rooftop and the subsequent falling through that one that may have caused the damage to your cybernetic arm, the awful pain that intermingled with your minor hurts and scrapes made sudden sense. After a silently whispered _damn it_ for the amount of work, a bitch and a half to be exact, that this would require you became aware of a hearty chuckle emanating from the cowboy standing beside you.

 

“You don’t see that every day,” he cackled.

 

“Certainly not,” Moria added, her eyes peeked with interest as she examined you head to toe. As a Blackwatch agent your cybernetics were a tad more refined than the average, but thinking back on it your arm should have been able to sustain the damage brought upon you. You’ve been in worst fights before and since you weren’t convulsing on the floor from indescribable pain than the arm hadn't fallen off from where it was attached upon your shoulder.

 

“May I have a look?” Moria asked, not waiting for an answer as she drew closer. “Since Genji decide to leave me alone to my pondering ideas as to why-"

 

“This is not the time, Moria,” Reyes interrupted, his voice curt and edged with a growl . “You acquired your samples already.” Casting a glance in your direction, his scorching train of thoughts suddenly disrupted by your arm falling off, he evaluated you for a split second, possibly trying to recall your rank and name. “Reader,” he said slowly. “Do you have anything to report about what you saw today.”

 

Mouth suddenly gone dry, you nodded before mentally slapping a hand to your forehead. “Yes, Sir,” you answered quickly, amending your silent response. Quickly you gave out a short but detailed assessment of what you had observed and though you did your best to ignore Dr. O’Deorian’s presence you still had to answer the questions she interjected. All you knew was that these mercenaries were packing some serious power and that something else might possibly be going on judging by the way Reyes’ and Moria’s were acting. But like any good Blackwatch agent you didn’t press for more information or have the desire to know more. Just another day’s work. Curiosity wasn't welcomed and no need to put your foot between the closing door and the frame.

 

You were dismissed and after picking up your arm you followed them out of the transport and ended up awkwardly following them to the second one; where stood your comrades. A few faces were missing and an even fewer bodies were on the floor, zipped up in gray bags and laid a respectful distance apart. It may be just another day’s work and fatalities were to be expected, but death was always a surprise and a punch to the gut.

 

The faded green of those bags were always going to make you sick.

 

One of your comrades lifted a hand in greeting at the sight of you, calling out your name and a few curses that were meant in good will. For all they knew you had died in that dusty merc infested city or were possibly alive and being dragged to the torture blocks.

 

Abruptly turning around, Reyes held a look of bewilderment and bemusement at the sight of you following after him. “Get your ass to the medbay!” he shouted, clearly taken back. Perhaps he had expected your first priority was to get yourself looked at, _your arm had fallen off for god’s sakes_ , but as long as you weren’t in an unbearable amount of pain you were deadest on reuniting with your squad mates and possibly becoming a mother hen because they were stubborn grunts and wouldn't get off their asses unless they were being kicked-

 

Seeing the spark of defiance in your eyes he added, “That’s an order!”, before turning around.

 

Frowning, but doing no more than that, you spun on your heels and headed towards the medbay silently grumbling all the while. As you crossed from the hangar, passed the bustle of the barracks, strolled through the open yard that was riddled with smokers and accepting an offer -to steady the onslaught of shakes that always hit you after a mission- you came into the clean white halls that were quiet and filled with whispers. The tidy and slightly ominous medbay.

 

There were plenty of doctors here, all with an assortment of degrees that a place such as Blackwatch needed. It didn’t take long before you caught the attention of an orderly and politely fended off their well-intended advancements. Typically those with cybernetics like yours were sent to Dr. Traynor and if he wasn’t around or busy with another patient than to Dr. O’Deorian. Thankfully you wouldn’t have to go to either them. Dr. Traynor, admittedly not as unnerving as his rival, had been acquired like any other notorious Blackwatch member was. This shady doctor had once been a criminal -one who should have been locked away and his cell key melted down and then broken apart into unmendable pieces and finally flushed down multiple toilets- but his brilliant mind couldn’t simply be wasted and he worked out a deal and was grabbed first by Blackwatch.

 

Thankfully you maintained your arm well enough and rarely needed it re-calibrated or inspected for wear and tear. When such times came however Dr. Ziegler just happened to be visiting, ready to offer a helping hand. Considering it was your cybernetics that needed tending to you would have ordinary gone to Dr. Traynor first, but you had just gotten back from a fire fight and the pain in your shoulder was steadily growing. There was no doubt you had flesh wounds. When you lost your arm the first time there had been no time lost and you were quickly attended to, but there still had been some nerve damage. If your shoulder was throbbing like a bitch than surely the area where prosthetic began was in need of medical attention as well and who better than the woman who had healed you in the first place.

 

Though she rarely stopped by here she kept a designated area present within the facility. Ordinarily there were a few nurses about, but the hall was empty and you assumed they may have passed you on their way to the hangar. After a quick look around you shrugged your shoulder, wincing and mouthing off at yourself for your lapse of memory, you went on ahead towards the room she took patients in. The door was slightly ajar and your fingers rested upon the handle. 

 

"I'm afraid I can't do much more than that, Genji," Dr. Ziegler said. "Since your arrival to Blackwatch Moria has advanced your cybernetics far beyond what I can-"

 

Backpedaling _fast_ and as quietly as you could you retreated until you hit the waiting area just beyond. You typically didn't care for gossip or the whispered rumors about the highly ranked agents, but they reached your ears nonetheless. If there was one the private conversation that you really shouldn't be overhearing it was that of the ninja cyborg who valued his privacy above all else.

 

Heart racing you took a seat and set down your cybernetic arm on the chair beside you. Wiping your hand of it's telling sweat and clamminess you took a deep breath and tried to appear innocently oblivious. Blackwatch held many rules; some spoken, some not. Most of the people here had been acquired outside of Overwatch's sphere of influence and would beat you to a pulp if they suspected you were spying on them. Those who had been brought from Overwatch directly were no different and this included you. You wouldn't want anyone here knowing of your past either.

 

The silence was broken as Dr. Ziegler's door opened and you sat up and turned your body, as if you were eager to get this over with, which you were. Genji, walking stoically towards you, his harsh gaze -and eyes vibrantly red- were narrowed with dissatisfaction, and following him was a worried Angela. Her mouth was opened, as if she wished to finish the conversation and she closed it shut at the sight of you. Then it promptly fell open at the sight of you.

 

"Reader!" she gasped, rounding Genji and her hands were aflutter as she tried to assess what to do first.

 

"I'm fine," you said and she gave you a pointed look. "At least I'm not dying this time," you added. "That's an improvement."

 

You could have sworn you heard a soft snort from the passing Genji, muffled by his mask, but before you could reflect further on that Dr. Ziegler was quickly ushering you to another room and she had a few choice words to say about your flippant behavior. 


End file.
